Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to shower enclosures and the like. More specifically it relates to support structures provided near corners of such enclosures, and seats for use therewith.
There are occasions when almost any bather may want to be able to sit at normal chair height in a shower enclosure (e.g. to wash feet). Also, the elderly, the handicapped, and certain children often need or desire to be able to sit at normal chair height when showering.
While the largest shower enclosures can provide enough room to install integral (or permanently affixed) seat structures (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,725), some shower enclosures are 48 inches wide or less. For these, it may be undesirable to take up so much room with seats that will always jut out into the standing space. Thus, some enclosures are provided with fold-up seats. However, these types of seats require additional construction and assembly, and risk additional leakage points along the attachment holes.
In connection with bathtubs there have been a variety of removable seats provided that are suspended on opposed front and back walls of the tub. When the bather wishes to sit all the way in the tub, the seat is simply removed. However, this requires there to be a front wall opposed to the rear wall.
For more conventional shower enclosures which do not have a raised front wall, it is more conventional to use the approach of attaching corner seats with fasteners. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,542,218 and 5,732,421.
Yet another approach is that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,848 which describes a self-standing stool with legs that permit it to be positioned at a corner and temporarily coupled to the corner with suction cups. However, this is not a secure attachment system.
There have also been suggestions to provide a shower enclosure that has at both its left and its right corners pedestals that can be used to somewhat support a removable seat. However, this system did not securely attach the seat without fasteners in situations where most of the weight is at the front of the seat.
Thus, a need still exists for the development of a removable shower seat which can be easily positioned in or removed from a shower module without the use of fasteners, yet which is securely supported.
The present invention provides a combined bathing enclosure and removable seat. The bathing enclosure has (i) a rear wall, (ii) opposed side walls, (iii) a support positioned adjacent a corner of the enclosure, where the corner is defined by a junction between the rear wall and a specified one of said side walls, (iv) a first pocket along the rear wall adjacent the support, and (v) a second pocket along the specified side wall adjacent the support. For purposes of this application, the term xe2x80x9cbathing enclosurexe2x80x9d is intended to cover any enclosure suitable for bathing, regardless of whether fully enclosed (e.g. a three-sided structure), and regardless of whether having a bathtub for also permitting reclined bathing (e.g. a shower enclosure). There is also a seat removably supportable adjacent the corner with one end of the seat positionable in the first pocket and an opposite end of the seat positionable in the second pocket.
In preferred forms at least one of the pockets has a downwardly sloped surface, and the seat has a surface that can rest on that sloped surface. The rear wall of the enclosure has a ledge adjacent the first pocket opposite the support, and the seat has a flange suitable to rest on that ledge. Also, the specified side wall of the enclosure can have a ledge adjacent the second pocket opposite the support, and the seat can have a wall suitable to rest on that ledge.
Further, the seat can have on its top surface a front edge, a left edge, a right edge, and a rear edge, with the left and right edges being essentially perpendicular to each other. In yet other forms the seat is formed of a base material that is at least partially coated with an elastomer along surfaces that can contact the bathing enclosure when the seat is installed therein.
In accordance with the present invention, the seat can be installed without fasteners, and thus can be removed without marring the shower stall, for cleaning, for when a user wishes to use the shower without a seat, and for when the seat is to be moved to the opposite corner.
The seat is supported on three sides, and on its opposite ends is also supported in angled pockets. Thus, the seat can support substantial weight without tipping, even though it is not bolted to the wall or supported along the front wall.
These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description that follows. The claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention.